KTM's Cyril Despres has officially been crowned the King of Dakar for the fourth time after upsetting his rival, Marc Coma, in the final stages.

KTM's Cyril Despres (#2) and teammate Ruben Faria approaching the finish line of the rally.

Marc Coma and Joan Pedrero - 2012 Dakar

Marc Coma delivering packages as a courier for a day

MRW KTM's Cyril Despres had a much better performance on Day 2 and is currently 22 seconds behind Lopez in third.

Spaniard Marc Coma earned his first stage victory on Monday and now leads the Dakar Rally as it enters Day 3.

Francisco Lopez: " I found it a bit difficult to follow, because I had a problem with my GPS aerial and I'm also quite tired. But these first two days of racing were important for me, to see how I am physically. I'm happy to have reached the finishing line. For the moment, I'm not thinking about the general standings, but I think there was a lot to lose today, because the special was very long and tricky.”

Marc Coma - Stage 3

Marc Coma escaped the challenges of Stage 8 with his fourth win of the rally to reclaim the overall lead.

Helder Rodrigues benefitted from stiff penalties to his rivals and was credited the victory in Stage 9.

By taking the win in the penultimate stage Yamaha's Helder Rodrigues has solidified a top-three finish in the rally.

Marc Coma: "The objective was to win, but if you analyze the results, you can see that finishing second, with five stage victories and, above all, the race we did as a whole, I think we can be very happy.”

Cyril Despres navigating the terrain in Argentina.

EnduroCross rider Taddy Blazusiak made his first rally appearance at the Desafio Litoral Rally in Argentina.

KTM rider Cyril Despres took the overall in in the 2012 Rally of Morocco.

Cyril Despres led the way through Stage 2 of the Rally of Morocco.

Alain Duclose and team mate Francisco Lopez gear up for the 2012 Dakar Rally.

The 2012 Dakar Rally was forced to cancel its activities for the day as rain and snow prevented a safe pass over the peak of the Andes Mountains.

Joan Barreda - Stage 3

Husqvarna's Joan Barreda followed his win in Stage 10 with another strong result after finishing fifth.

Claudio Hidalgo and Claudio Troncoso were one of only three side-by-side teams to finish the Dakar Rally.

Marc Coma

Marc Coma: "Both as a person and as athlete I have been progressing and growing and now I have a lot more experience. I think we are in a good moment and now is time to gather the fruits of all these years.”

Marc Coma testing in Morocco

Marc Coma: "Last year we achieved a great victory and we hope we can repeat it. It is difficult, but with the help of the team and a good set-up for the bike, we have chances to repeat that victory.”

Marc Coma

Marc Coma

Marc Coma testing in Morocco

Marc Coma

Coma gains ground on Despres once again, his second-place finish in Stage 10 closing the overall advantage to 21 seconds.

Joan Pedrero and Marc Coma will be on their bikes racing at the Dakar Rally in less than a week.

Marc Coma out as a courier for a day

Marc Coma courier for a day

Marc Coma

Marc Coma

Marc Coma in Stage 4 of the 2012 Sealine Cross-Country Rally in Qatar.

Marc Coma takes his second consecutive win of the 2012 Cross-Country Rallies season in Qatar.

Cyril Despres remains the overall leader through Stage 5 with just one stage remaining.

Cyril Despres took the overall win at the Desafio Litoral Rally in Argentina.

Marc Coma testing in Morocco

"In Puerto Plata, at the start of the race, everybody was amazed to see me alone in my small car. Some of them were even laughing at me!,” said Alcaraz. “But days after days, they were less and less smiling when I was overtaking them in the dunes.

Francisco 'Chaleco' Lopez has taken the early lead in the 2012 Dakar Rally after winning the first stage.

A glance at some of the numbers involved with racing the Dakar Rally raid.

KTM's Cyril Despres lost ground on Marc Coma after the duo closed to within 21 seconds during Stage 10.

Cyril Despres was one of the unlucky ones who became stuck in a mud hole during the special.

Cyril Despres (#2) and Ruben Faria ride the link stage together after organizers cancelled the sixth special due to weather.